More Than A Magazine, A Movement
After an in-person hiatus of two years, Essence Festival of Culture returned to New Orleans for its annual festival dedicated to celebrating and uplifting Black women.
The return of Essence Festival in person during this critical social moment was vital. With the theme “It’s the Black Joy For Me,” it was a moment for Black women to take time for themselves and each other, despite what’s currently happening in the world.
The U.S. is now the first country to grant equal pay for its men’s and women’s soccer teams. But for years, U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team players have repeatedly complained that they’ve been getting as little as 40 percent of the salary their male counterparts get—especially considering the women’s team has four World Cup titles and the men’s team has … none.
One Billion Rising, a mass action to end violence against women, launched on Valentine’s Day 2012. It’s based on the staggering statistic that one in three women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime.
Every Valentine’s Day is a reminder of how much more is needed to free women to fulfill their potential and live without fear of violence. I’m writing a valentine to V, to the V-Day team and the One Billion Rising global coordinators, who are committed to creating a new kind of consciousness—one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable.
After months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of senators announced Wednesday that they had reached a deal to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)—which has been expired since December 2018.
The Equal Rights Amendment, which is stuck in a tug-of-war with the U.S. archivist and the Senate, would provide the basis for Congress to enact stronger laws on gender violence, including restoring the civil rights remedy in VAWA.
For decades, Howard Stern has used his celebrity status to normalize porn and misogyny. Last month, Billie Eilish, only 20, made a shocking revelation on Stern’s show: “I used to watch a lot of porn. I think it really destroyed my brain.”
Eilish is right—research shows conclusively that pornography is harmful for young people and, indeed, all brains. But kids take to porn because they find the sexual education offered by their schools and parents to be unhelpful and unreal.
Taylor Swift released her re-recorded version of fan-favorite album “Red.” The highly emotional album takes on additional meaning in light of new lyrics about a relationship’s power differential and the brutality of fame—and the male gaze behind both.
On Thursday, October 21, advocates testified before the House Oversight & Reform Committee on the Equal Rights Amendment.
During the hearing, members of Congress and ERA advocates outlined the need for the ERA and detailed how it has met the amending process requirements, as outlined in Article V of the Constitution, and therefore should be immediately added as the 28th Amendment. They testified on the dramatic impacts the amendment would have on women, people of color and the trans community, and how the proposed amendment could help shore up gaps in abortion access.
For nearly 50 years, generations of feminists in the U.S. have marched, lobbied and advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)—a simple but crucial amendment that would enshrine gender equality in the Constitution. Trailblazing feminists—including Alfre Woodard, Dolores Huerta and Kate Walsh—want to make sure the message is heard: There is no time limit on equality.
The Kardashians made their money by trademarking their white femininity, their relationships with African American men and marketing Black beauty aesthetics for white women—a type of modern mediated Blackface in a cultural space where few actual Black faces actually grace U.S. television screens.
In the midst of a global pandemic, the entertainment industries have come to a standstill. Theater, a traditionally live experience, is especially facing challenges. But lifelong feminist and theater producer Susan Loewenberg of L.A. Theatre Works finds her organization in a unique position.